Africa Cup of Nations Preview

Wilfried Bony is key to Ivory Coast's chances

The Africa Cup of Nations gets going this weekend and we preview the groups.

This year's African Cup of Nations looks even more open than usual with a host of teams capable of winning the tournament.

The likes of Ivory Coast, Algeria, Ghana, Tunisia, Cameroon and Senegal all have a good chance of lifting the trophy on 8th February.

Group A

Group A appears on paper to be the weakest of the four groups, with Burkina Faso possibly the favourites to finish at the top of the pile.

Equatorial Guinea do at least have home advantage, having taken over as hosts at short notice when Morocco decided in November that they did not want to stage the championship because of fears over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and fans travelling from that region.

The Central African country co-hosted the 2012 African Cup and surprised many people by reaching the quarter-finals, famously beating Senegal in the group stage before finally being put in their place by Ivory Coast.

However, they failed to qualify for the tournament two years ago and, although the current squad contains several players that are plying their trade in the second tier of Spanish football, there are no stars, and goals could be a problem with perhaps too much expected of Pune City striker Ivan Bolado.

Burkina Faso were the surprise package in South Africa two years ago when, thanks to a strong defence, they made it all the way to the final, where they were edged out by Nigeria.

Burkina Faso should reach the quarter-finals this time but are unlikely to go any further.

Gabon and Congo are two of the tournament outsiders and are not expected to progress from the group.

Gabon did qualify as unbeaten group winners and reached the quarter-finals in 2012 but, even though they can call on the services of Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, appear to be one of the weaker teams in the competition.

A superb 3-2 victory in Nigeria was the highlight of Congo's qualification campaign and it was a result that did much to keep the Super Eagles out of the tournament. It would be a major surprise to see Congo challenging for honours though.

Group B

Tunisia appear to be the strongest team in Group B. The Carthage Eagles came through a tough qualifying group that also contained Senegal and Egypt and are currently ranked as the second-best team in Africa.

Belgian coach Georges Leekens can call on a host of experienced players including Monaco's Aymen Abdennour, Zurich duo Yassone Chikhaoui and Amine Chermiti, as well as Hocine Ragued of Esperance, and they should have more than enough to qualify from the group.

Tunisia are traditionally one of Africa's strongest teams and could be the dark horses to go all the way this time.

However, Zambia can also call on a fine current crop of players and will be able to rely on a resolute defence that only conceded two goals in six qualifying games.

The 2012 champions can call on the services of Southampton striker Emmanuel Mayuka and Rainford Kalaba of Mazembe and look organised enough to reach the last eight at least.

Cape Verde have done brilliantly to qualify for the tournament again having made their debut in 2013, when they were eventually beaten in the quarter-finals by Ghana.

They impressed in qualifying for this year's tournament but it may be asking too much for them to reach the last-eight again.

DR Congo's glory days came in the 1970s when they won the African Cup of Nations and qualified for the World Cup as Zaire. However, the Leopards have struggled since and, although Crystal Palace's Yannick Bolasie and West Brom's Youssouf Mulumbu are in their squad, a place in the last-eight seems beyond them.

Group C

This is undoubtedly the toughest group, with Ghana, Algeria, Senegal and South Africa all capable of going all the way.

Algeria are currently the top-ranked team in Africa and impressed at the World Cup just over six months ago, qualifying from a group that also included Belgium and Russia, before taking Germany to extra-time and only losing 2-1 to the eventual champions in the last-16.

Tottenham's Nabil Bentaleb, Sofiane Feghouli of Valencia and Islam Slimani of Sporting Lisbon add some quality to a squad that looks to be one of the best in the tournament.

It won't be easy for The Desert Warriors though, particularly as Ghana also gained plenty of plaudits in Brazil.

Ghana, who have not won the African Cup of Nations since 1982, are coached by the former Chelsea and West Ham boss Avram Grant. They featured in one of the standout matches at the World Cup when they drew 2-2 with Germany, although they ultimately failed to qualify for the last-16.

Grant has the likes of Asamoah Gyan, Jordan Ayew, Christian Atsu and Jonathan Mensah at his disposal and there is quality throughout the Black Stars squad.

Senegal may not possess as many good players as they had in 2002 but they won four of their six qualifying games, only conceding one goal in the process, and helped to stop Egypt qualifying for the tournament.

Senegal reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and were also beaten by Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations final that year, but they have failed to build on those impressive performances.

They will look to Newcastle United's Papiss Cisse and Sadio Mane of Southampton for goals, but anything more than a run to the quarter-finals would be classified as a major success.

South Africa have been revitalised by coach Ephraim Mashaba after enduring several years in the doldrums.

Bafana Bafana won the tournament in 1996 and reached the final in 1998 but have failed to make much of an impression since.

However, they remained unbeaten in qualifying when they helped to eliminate defending champions Nigeria.

Group D

Ivory Coast remain one of the favourites to lift the trophy for the first time since 1992 even though they have an ageing squad and were desperately disappointing at last year's World Cup.

They will be without Didier Drogba, but still have Wilfried Bony, Cheick Tiote, Yaya Toure and Gervinho in their ranks, so can certainly not be dismissed.

Herve Renard guided Zambia to success in 2012 when they beat Ivory Coast side in the final, and the Frenchman will be hoping to repeat the trick with The Elephants this time.

Cameroon endured a dreadful World Cup, losing all three of their group games in Brazil and conceding nine goals in the process.

However, The Indomitable Lions have responded superbly to that disappointment, the four-time African champions qualifying for Equatorial Guinea in style, beating Ivory Coast 4-1 along the way.

Cameroon will be without Samuel Eto'o, who retired from international football after the World Cup, but Vincent Aboubakar has emerged as a superb replacement and the 22-year-old Porto striker is expected to be one of the stars of the tournament.

Mali and Guinea look set to be the whipping boys in the group. Despite finishing third in the last two tournaments, Mali appear to be weak this time and look set to rely too heavily on Metz's Modibo Maiga and Seydou Keita of Roma.

Guinea score plenty of goals but also concede too many and it is that defensive fragility that could cost them their place in the quarter-finals at this tournament.